Today in History

Today is Monday, July 1, the 182nd day of 2013. There are 183 days left in the year. This is Canada Day.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On July 1, 1863, the pivotal, three-day Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, resulting in a Union victory, began in Pennsylvania.

On this date:

In 1535, Sir Thomas More went on trial in England, charged with high treason for rejecting the Oath of Supremacy. (More was convicted, and executed.)

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the first Pacific Railroad Act.

In 1867, Canada became a self-governing dominion of Great Britain as the British North America Act took effect.

In 1903, the first Tour de France began. (It ended on July 19; the winner was Maurice Garin.)

In 1912, aviator Harriet Quimby, 37, was killed along with her passenger, William Willard, when they were thrown out of Quimby’s monoplane at the Third Annual Boston Aviation Meet.

In 1942, the First Battle of El Alamein began during World War II. Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra and vocalist Frank Sinatra recorded “There Are Such Things” in New York for Victor Records.

In 1946, the United States exploded a 20-kiloton atomic bomb near Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.

In 1963, the U.S. Post Office inaugurated its five-digit ZIP codes.

In 1973, the Drug Enforcement Administration was established.

In 1980, “O Canada” was proclaimed the national anthem of Canada.

In 1993, a gunman opened fire in a San Francisco law office, killing eight people and wounding six before killing himself.

In 2004, actor Marlon Brando died in Los Angeles at age 80.

Ten years ago: At a summit, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas rededicated themselves to peace efforts and spoke of a shared future for their peoples. Bishop Sean O’Malley was named by Pope John Paul II the new archbishop of Boston, succeeding Cardinal Bernard Law, who’d resigned in the wake of a clerical sex abuse scandal. Jazz flutist Herbie Mann died in Pecos, N.M., at age 73.

Five years ago: Ex-convict Nicholas T. Sheley, suspected in eight grisly slayings in two states, was arrested outside a bar in Granite City, Ill. (Sheley has since been convicted of two murders.) The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver agreed to pay $5.5 million to settle 18 more claims by people who said they’d been sexually abused by priests when they were children. Clay Felker, founding editor of New York magazine, died at age 82.

One year ago: Syria’s main opposition groups rejected a new international plan that called for a transitional government because the compromise agreement did not bar President Bashar Assad from participating. Voters in Mexico returned the Institutional Revolutionary Party to power. Spain won its third straight major soccer title, beating Italy 4-0 in the European Championship final in Kiev, Ukraine. Tiger Woods won the AT&T National at Congressional in Bethesda, Md. for the 74th win of his career.